Regulation and sustainability
The declaration of conformity
The document stating your product complies, who signs it, and why it cannot be copied from a supplier.
If you place a product on the market, sooner or later someone asks for its declaration of conformity. It is a short document — it fits on one page — and also the one that causes the most misunderstanding, because it looks like a certificate someone gives you and it is not: it is a declaration you make.
What it is and is not
| It is | It is not |
|---|---|
| Your own declaration about your product | A certificate issued by a third party |
| Signed by someone in your company | Something a supplier signs on your behalf |
| Backed by technical documentation you keep | A loose form to fill in |
| About a specific product or family | Valid for your whole catalogue |
Important
The first row changes the whole conversation: nobody gives it to you, you make it. And in signing it you take on that technical documentation exists behind it. If you are ever asked for it and have it, the next question will be about that documentation — and that is what needs preparing, not the declaration.
The commonest mistake
Watch out
Forwarding a supplier's declaration as if it were yours. Theirs covers **their** product as they place it on the market; if you transform it, assemble it with other things, or sell it under your own brand, that document no longer describes what you are placing on the market. It is spotted the moment someone compares names, and it undermines everything else you presented.
What to keep and be able to find
The last point is always neglected and is what you need when a claim arrives about an old unit: what matters then is not what you declare today, but what you declared when that unit shipped.
When it must be redone
- 1
When the product changes
A different component, a new version, a change of manufacturer.
- 2
When what is required of it changes
The references the declaration cites can be updated.
- 3
And when who places it on the market changes
If you start selling it under your own brand, the declaration is yours from that day.
Worth knowing
Which products need a declaration, exactly what it must cite and what technical documentation must be kept depends on the product type and the market, and it gets updated. **Confirm that with your adviser or the relevant body**; what is explained here is the documentary mechanics: who signs, what backs it, and what you must be able to show years later.
›Can anyone sign it?
Someone able to bind the company. Not the salesperson who emails it.
›Is English acceptable?
It is usually required in the language of the country of sale; ask before translating.
›Must it be given to the customer?
Often yes, and in many cases it accompanies the product. Keep a record of who it was sent to.
A real case
The situation
A company sells under its own brand equipment assembled from bought-in components.
What you do
- Stops forwarding the component maker's declaration
- Issues its own and keeps the technical documentation behind it
What you get
When a large client asks, it hands over a document describing what it actually sells.
The situation
The supplier's is copied with the name changed.
What you do
- Issues its own, on its own file
What you get
The document says what you can stand behind.
The situation
Nobody knows who should sign it.
What you do
- Clarifies it with the adviser before issuing
What you get
The signature belongs to whoever can give it.
The situation
It is issued and nothing backing it is kept.
What you do
- Stores the technical file alongside it
What you get
The cover page has what supports it behind.
The situation
The product changes and the declaration stays the same.
What you do
- Reviews the declaration with every change
What you get
The document describes what is sold today.
The situation
A client asks for the declaration of an old version.
What you do
- Keeps each version with its date
What you get
You provide the one that covered that sale.
This article answers
- what is a declaration of conformity
- who signs the ce declaration
- supplier sent me their declaration is that enough
- technical documentation for ce marking